In nuclear medicine imaging, systems with multiple detectors or detector heads may be used to image a subject. For example, the detectors may be positioned adjacent to the subject to acquire nuclear medicine imaging data (e.g., radioactivity), which is used to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of the subject. In a specific example, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) systems may have moving detector heads, such as gamma cameras, positioned to focus on a region of interest. One or more of the gamma cameras may be moved (for example, rotated) to different angular positions to acquire image data. The acquired image data may then be used to generate 3D images.
In conventional SPECT camera systems with multiple swinging detector heads, the detectors swing about a fixed pivot. The rotational movement of each detector head limits the size of the detector head, to ensure detector heads do not collide with one another during rotation. As a result, gaps may exist between the detectors to accommodate full rotational motion of the detectors. These gaps limit the number of detectors that can be used to focus on a region of interest of the subject and thus limit the sensitivity of the imaging system.
Furthermore, detector heads may include complex circuitry to enable a detector unit to communicate with a detector controller as well as data acquisition systems. As the detector head pivots, swings, or rotates, the large number of electrical wires providing power and communication abilities to the detector head may become tangled and/or strained and consequently break. As a result, the motion of the detector head may be limited by the wired circuitry. For example, a detector head may not be able to fully rotate 360 degrees, and so instead may stop and reverse direction to perform a continuous scan. Further, common solutions to prevent circuitry damage increase the size of the detector head. For example, a detector head may include a bulky absolute encoder so that the detector controller may know the orientation of the detector head at all times. As a result, the resolution of NM imaging system, which may be limited by the number of detector heads, is degraded since an increased size of each detector head decreases the number of imaging detectors that may fit in the NM imaging system.